COMPLIANCE SCHEME WARNS OVER NONE COMPLIANT ONLINE RETAILERS

A Producer Compliance Scheme has warned that sellers of up to 20% of the total of LED lamps sold to consumers in the UK may be in breach of WEEE regulations.

The warning which was announced by Recolight comes after the organisation, which focuses on WEEE compliance for the lamp and lighting sector, gathered data to estimate the scale of WEEE non-compliance through some online retailers.

Recolight’s findings have focused on LED lamps sold through multi-seller online retailers, and has been submitted to consultants preparing a report for the OECD on the impact of online sales on WEEE compliance.

Under the current WEEE regulations, producers and distributors of electrical goods are required to finance the collection and treatment of their products at the end of life.

Recolight claims that many online sellers, particularly those based outside of the EU but selling through established international retail websites (with UK presence), may be placing their goods onto the market without registering with a WEEE compliance scheme in the UK.